


everything you do is magic

by tozier



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Trans Female Character, all the ships and the students are focused on as equally as i could manage, which is jamie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 15:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12171921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tozier/pseuds/tozier
Summary: a hogwarts au where most things go right, falling in love is expected, and choosing a family is a priceless commodity.





	everything you do is magic

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> So, this is the Hogwarts AU I've been thinking about for months. Everyone in the couples listed is featured as equally as I could make it, and everyone has a POV section except Jamie, which unfortunately hit the cutting room floor.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

“ _Mudblood._ ”

The word is spit in vicious laughter and Dave Rygalski’s cheeks flame. _God, that is such a dirty word,_ he thinks, almost immediately mentally correcting himself. _No. Merlin. They all say **Merlin** here. You’re a wizard now, Dave. Act like it. _

It’s only Dave’s first week at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and second-year student, Logan Huntzberger, and his crew of miscreants are still laughing at him, mocking him about everything from his dirty robes to his last name. He resents everything given to him at this moment, the gift magic is, and thinks miserably, _why did I have to be a wizard at all?_

Then, in a flurry of glitter and anger, Lane Kim appears on the scene in the halls outside the Hufflepuff common room.

“Hey! Huntzberger! Why don’t you go shove your wand where the sun doesn’t shine!” Logan rolls his eyes, snorting, as if Lane isn't worth his precious time. “You know _Rory_ wouldn’t like to hear about this.” Everyone from Hogwarts to Hogsmede knows Logan Huntzberger already has a thing for Lane’s best friend Rory Gilmore. But Rory either has no interest, is oblivious, or both. Logan frowns and starts pouting, falling silent, and his cronies, Colin and Finn, start laughing at him, mocking of his crush on kind, intelligent, first-year Rory.

Logan walks away, his buddies follow, and Dave is stunned. He’s never seen anyone stand up to Logan before, let alone a first-year. Dave is starry-eyed, staring at this girl with glitter on her face and all over her robes who is flurrying around him, trying to make sure he’s alright.

“You okay? He’s such a jerk, I can’t believe he even thinks he has a shot in the dark with Rory,” she grumbles. “Anyway, I’m Lane.” She sticks out her hand. It takes a couple of moments for Dave to return the favor.

“I’m Dave. Dave Rygalski.” Lane smiles.

“I love your name. Very musical.” And Dave is absolutely hooked.

\--

The first time Rory Gilmore sees Jess Mariano, they’re about a month into their second year and she’s sitting in Luke’s with her best friend, Lane Kim. They’ve been to Luke’s plenty of times, growing up in the muggle town outside of Hogsmede, Stars Hollow. Luke Danes, the owner of the restaurant, and Rory’s mother, Lorelai, are incredibly close. Their relationship bloomed when Lorelai dropped out of Hogwarts halfway through their sixth year to have Rory and Luke was the only person not to yell at her for the decision, call her a blood traitor for leaving her Pureblood family. They say they're best friends. _Just_  friends, Lorelai assures, though Rory has always suspected that isn't the entire truth.

Lane and Rory are discussing missing their mothers (or, in Lane’s case, guiltily not missing their mothers). Rory’s mother, Lorelai, is going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor next year, having already been hired to take the place of the current one who gave a year’s notice he was leaving. But Rory misses her mom whenever she’s not around her. They have an incredible relationship, deep and intense, whereas with Lane, she loves and respects her mother, but they’ll never be close. Not like Lorelai and Rory are.

Lorelai took Lane in as a second daughter a long time ago. Lane and Rory met in primary school, Lane sharing her crayons with Rory, cementing their friendship rock-solid for life. Lorelai knew what it was like to want to rebel against her parents, having abandoned her Pureblood mother and father at sixteen and leaving for the muggle world without looking back. So, Lorelai introduced Lane to all the music, movies and television she couldn’t experience in her own home.

Lane’s discussing the fact that she has to know so much about the reunification of the two Koreas when she really just wants to study the reunification of The Clash when Rory looks up and sees him. His robes are undone, wearing muggle clothes underneath them, and he looks disheveled. He has grease stains on everything he's wearing and a blot of something red on his cheek, and Rory has never seen someone she’s wanted to talk to so much in her entire 13 years of living.

He’s levitating a kettle of tea around the room with his wand and trying to have an in-depth argument about something with a girl Rory knows to be named Paris at the same time. He’s doing an incredible job, hasn’t missed a cup once, barely paying attention to the patrons, and Rory is entranced. She feels like she’s drugged, under a spell.

“Rory? Rory! Earth to Lorelai Leigh Gilmore!” Lane calls, waving her hand in front of Rory’s face. Rory comes to, snapping back to reality, and smiles.

“Sorry, what were you saying?”

“What are you so distracted by?” Lane says, looking around in her seat. Rory rushes to distract her.

“No, no, nothing! You were talking about Dave?”

“Oh, yeah! He showed me these really neat headphones of his…” Rory looks back at the boy, who is exasperated at this point. He throws the arm up in the air that isn’t working the wand. When the tea gets to their table, it stops, and the boy looks up, meeting Rory’s eyes. There’s a moment where it feels like the world slows down, and then stutters to stop. Rory mouths the word _coffee?_ The boy nods, the tea coming back to him and being switched with a pot of coffee. It floats back to Lane and Rory’s table and, with a flourish from high above their table, it pours Rory’s coffee.

Lane watches with amusement.

“That’s Jess Mariano, you know,” Lane comments. “He’s in our year. He’s a transfer. He’s been known to cause trouble around campus.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lane,” Rory sniffs, glancing back at Jess and mouthing _thank you_. He gives her a half-smile and Rory’s gut twists.

Maybe leaving her mother again wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

\--

Paris Geller meets Rory, Jess and Lane all on that same fateful day in her second year, though not all at once.

Paris walks into Luke’s Diner in Hogsmede because she wants an Eggs Benedict and she wants it now. Her nanny back at home used to make it for her when she was missing her family. So, Paris figures what better place to find an egg platter than a diner?

However, she gets much more than she bargained for when she walks up to the counter and up to a boy who looks about her age whose nose is buried in a book.

“Excuse me?” Paris asks, annoyed that the boy is not doing his job as a food service employee. “Hello? Anyone in there?”

The boy looks up. “What can I get ya?”

Paris scoffs, not even more frustrated than she was before. “Don’t you have a pad where you write down orders?”

The boy taps on his temple. “I’ve got an iron trap up here, locks everything down. Now, what can I get ya?”

“Eggs Benedict. Instead of Canadian bacon, can I get turkey bacon? And make sure the hollandaise sauce is spread evenly over the enitre dish.” The boy turns around, about to give the order. “And Kosher salt! Be certain you're using Kosher salt.” He turns slowly back around. She grins smugly. “Do you need me to repeat it?”

“No,” he spits out. “I’ll be just fine, thanks.”

“Sure you will,” Paris responds, nodding sarcastically. “Sure.” He walks over to the door to the kitchen and starts to repeat the order.

“Jess!” Paris hears come out the half-door. “Just write it down! I can’t remember all that crap! For Merlin’s sake…” Jess grumbles and pulls out a pad from his back pocket, scribbling down what Paris hopes is her _correct_ order, and slaps it on the counter that separates the top half of the door from the bottom half.

“Here ya go, _Uncle_ Luke.” Paris hears a groan.

“Just Luke will be fine, thanks!” Jess smirks, walking back to his spot in front of Paris and pulling out his book, burying himself in it once more.

“What are you even reading? School hasn’t started yet, and you don’t look like a particularly studious boy,” Paris says and Jess flips his book up so she can see the title, continuing to read the whole time. “Shakespeare? I hear he’s a hack.”

Jess looks up. “You’ve never read _Shakespeare_? God, what kind of nerd are you?”

“The kind who reads books she needs to read. You know, for _grades_. You wouldn’t know anything about those, would you?” Paris doesn’t feel the need to add that she didn’t have access to muggle books throughout her entire upbringing and has only started catching up through the Hogwarts library.

Jess scoffs, and they’re off, arguing about school, books, everything. He pours tea for everyone in the diner without breaking his concentration on his argument with her, which Paris finds particularly impressive, but says nothing. His face goes soft and tender halfway through her rant on Christianity versus Judaism, and Paris finishes her sentence before turning around to see who he’s looking at.

“Ah. Rory Gilmore. She’s a smart girl, you’ve chosen well,” she smirks. Jess rolls his eyes.

“I haven’t chosen anyone. Now, what were you saying about Moses?” They continue on like that for another 20 minutes, Paris having already eaten her Eggs Benedict, until they are interrupted by a soft voice.

“Excuse me?” The voice is kind and welcoming from behind Paris and Jess’ eyes widen. Paris turns around to see Rory Gilmore and Lane Kim. “Hi, I’m Rory. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you say that you’ve never read Shakespeare before, which I think is a real shame. And I just happen to have this in my bag,” she says, rifling through her things.

“I’m Lane,” the other girl says, sticking out her hand. "We’re both going into our second years at Hogwarts.”

“I know who you are. I’m Paris,” she says without shaking Lane’s hand. Lane puts her hand back down, unbothered. Jess waves half-heartedly, not making eye contact with any of them. “As you can tell, he’s very friendly.”

“Paris,” he grumbles.

“Oh! Here!” Rory says, pulling out a weathered book. Clearly a favorite. “ _The Tempest_ by William Shakespeare. It’s one of my favorites.” She smiles kindly at Paris, handing her the book, before backing away.

“Well, we gotta go,” Lane says. “Sorry to jet so fast, but we’re meeting our friend, Dave Rygalski. He’s in our year too. But it was nice meeting you both.”

“Yeah, nice meeting you as well,” Paris responds. Rory waves at Jess, small and private, and if Paris were a less nosy person, she would look away. Jess waves back. “I gotta go, too, Jess. But I’ll see you around. Don’t forget to read the book of Revelations. It’s a crazy ride.”

“I will,” Jess responds, and he actually gives them all the first smile Paris has seen out of him today. She finds herself smiling back.

\--

So, Jess is a Ravenclaw.

Rory knows this because it was wild news around the great hall, disbelief murmured into ears in the Great Hall the night of sorting when Rory was entering her second year. The sorting hat calls out, almost immediately “Ravenclaw!”, and there’s quiet pandemonium.

“A Ravenclaw? Him?”

“I heard his mother’s a squib.”

“Luke Danes is his uncle; Luke's a Gryffindor, of course, but Jess’ father is a Slytherin and went on to do some dark magic.”

“Isn’t his father on the run from the Minister of Magic himself or something?”

Rory remembers watching Jess, head not held high in defiance or hung low in defeat, but neutrally forward, walking past their fellow Ravenclaws, and taking his seat across from Rory. He pulled out a book from his pocket, beaten up and well-loved and glanced up at Rory. He smirked at her owlish, intense gaze before flipping to his dog-eared page and diving into the book. Rory knew that feeling well, tuning out the world around you in favor of another universe entirely.

She herself is a Ravenclaw, but she’s never seen him in the common room or for house meetings. He’s in none of her classes (or, perhaps, never shows up). She really never sees him outside of Hogsmede. And it’s starting to annoy her.

So, when she catches a head of wild, jet black hair near the end of winter term in year two, she literally takes the stairs two at a time to catch up with him. Once she does, she has to hide the fact that she’s out of breath and then bump into him on purpose but make it look like an accident so he notices her.

She’s great at flirting, everyone thinks so.

Well, Logan Huntzberger thinks so. And, if by flirting, you mean yelling at him to shove off and leave her alone. If that and pitching the cute boy she wants to talk to forward and into a painting constitutes as flirting, Rory’s a natural. She’s got it in the bag.

“Oh, Merlin’s beard! I’m so sorry, Jess!” Rory cries, tripping over her oxfords and trying not to fall to the ground.

He turns around, righting himself, a light in his eyes. “You know my name?”

 _Busted._ “Oh, well. Um, yes? I met you at the diner! And you’re in my Herbology class, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not.” Wow, Jess really was observant. This was going to be harder than she thought, and he certainly wasn’t making it any easier. “We don’t share any classes together.”

“That can’t be true! You’re in my year!” Jess’ playful smirk grows.

“Yeah? You know that, too? You certainly know a lot about me after having shoved me into a wall. You a Legilimens?” Rory blushes scarlet.

“No. Man, I wish. Maybe one day. For now, I’m just observant.” Jess eyes her curiously.

“You are. Rory Gilmore, right? Pureblood, but you don’t act like one. You don’t run with the other Purebloods, like Huntzberger. He follows you around a lot, seems to like you, but you don’t like him. You hang out with Lane Kim and Dave Rygalski. Dave’s muggle-born and you and Lane stand up for him. Your grandfather’s the headmaster, but it doesn’t get you any special treatment. You’re kind and generous, giving Paris that book without even knowing her.” Rory stares at him for a long, long moment. Jess smirks deeply. “You’re not the only one who’s observant.”

And then he’s gone in a flourish of robes and Rory’s disbelief, and she is left stand alone on the platform. Well, almost alone.

“My goodness, that was certainly my fill of entertainment for the day,” Anne Boleyn says from her place in the painting on the wall, sizing Rory up before walking away and leaving only the backdrop.

“Yeah,” Rory says faintly, completely alone now. “Mine, too.”

\--

“I wanna be a drummer.”

Lane says the sentence all in a rush. She and Dave are going back and forth, swapping secrets, and he’s been looking increasingly more and more nervous, and she’s sure she has, too. This was a bad idea, she’s been thinking over and over.

So far, Dave’s found out that she’s thought about Rory. _Thought_ about Rory. That included a wide-eyed look, flamed cheeks for both, and a confession that he’s _thought_ about Jess. He’s found out that she lied to and hid so much from her mom so often as a kid that she barely felt anything when she’d do it. He asked what she’d lie about. Lane said that was for another confession.

And now, this.

“You want… like, in a wizard band?” Lane shakes her head, hands clammy and shaking a bit.

“No. Like, in a proper muggle rock band, like The Stones or The Who. Like Keith Moon. I wanna be like Moon,” she says, breathless, staring at Dave’s face for any sign that he was going to run and tell the faculty about this. He looked planted in their corner of the empty Hufflepuff common room.

“How… do you know about Keith Moon?” He asks, almost in wonder. _Oh_ , Lane thinks.

“That’s for another confession?” She tries. He shakes his head, a flat look on his face.

“Come on, Lane. You can trust me. We’ve been friends for almost two years now.” Lane thinks about the Dead Kennedy’s shirt she’s wearing underneath her robes and thinks that’s as good a start as any to introduce him to the secret world she has that only Rory and Lorelai know anything about. She starts undoing her robes and Dave’s face gets nervous, wide-eyed.

“What–what are you doing?” Dave asks, an owlish expression on his face. Lane rolls her eyes.

“I’m not getting naked, for Merlin's sake. Just hold on.” She lets the robes fall away to expose her Dead Kennedy’s shirt and ripped blue jeans. Lane's never been in her muggle clothes in front of anyone but the Gilmores, but, strangely, it doesn't feel weird. He looks at her in mild confusion and a lot of wonder.

“Lane, you’re into muggle stuff?” Lane nods.

“Really into it. I mean, mostly muggle music. It’s just… so cool, you know. My mom didn't want me knowing about any muggle stuff, but I was friends with Rory. And her mom’s the queen of the muggle world, even though she’s a pureblood witch. And I would listen to the songs at Rory’s house, on CDs, right?” Dave nods, a little smile on his face. “Right. And I love muggle clothes and stuff, but I know it’s banned here. And at my house. So, I have to hide it.”

“Why is it banned at your house?” Dave asks with a little frown.

“Well, my mom's a witch, but my dad left my mom and I when I was 7, and he was a muggle. So, when he left, my mother vowed to never let me know about anything muggle-related. But then I got closer to Rory, and that whole plan went down the drain,” Lane explains, and Dave smiles.

“And you trust me? To know about all this?” Lane shrugs and nods.

“You won’t, like, tell anyone, will you?” Dave quickly shakes his head.

“No, no, of course not, Lane. All of your secrets are safe with me, I promise.” He thinks for a bit. “So, a drummer?”

“Yeah, definitely. But I have nowhere to play.” Dave's smile widens.

“I think I have an idea.”

\--

Paris meets Jamie during her fourth year, but it’s not exactly the meet-cute she expects.

She’s been watching Prefect, Jamie Barash, since her second year at Hogwarts. Well, really, everyone has. Jamie did not exactly hide herself. Earlier that year by walking into the Yule Ball in a floor length ballgown. When people asked why, she’d simply responded, “I’m wearing the clothes that all the rest of the girls are wearing, aren’t I?” Paris admired her tenacity then, and still does now.

Paris has just never figured out a way to talk to her.

The two of them are a year apart, so they aren’t in any classes together. But, more than that, Jamie is a Gryffindor and Paris is a Slytherin. There is a certain house pride that comes with the territory of those two houses, and they have been dueling for years.

Paris could handle her only friends being Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and the rest of her housemates could stomach it as well. But a Gryffindor? Please. Paris would rather drop dead than be crucified for the social suicide that her house considers a Slytherin befriending a Gryffindor.

So, she stays away until she literally can’t any longer.

Paris realizes it’s past curfew when a cloud passes and the moon shines through the window of the library. She’s in the very back in a corner so she didn’t hear the librarian tell everyone that curfew was about to come. Paris estimated, looking at the moon, she was an hour past curfew already.

 _Merlin, I can really read_ , she thinks, gathering her books and quietly slipping out of the library, hoping she can make it to the Slytherin Dungeon without anybody seeing her. Luckily, the library is on the first floor, so she doesn’t have very far to go, but the Prefects are always roaming the stairs at this time of night.

Paris tip-toes down the stairs, barely making a sound, and she is almost home free, but meeting her at the bottom of the staircase is Jamie.

 _Oh, great,_ Paris thinks. She steels her shoulders and faces the girl.

“You’re up past curfew,” Jamie comments mildly. Paris nods, head tilted up proudly.

“I was studying in the library.”

“Can anyone vouch for that?” Paris scoffs.

“Yeah, me and my large group of friends that I’m clearly with. Check with the paintings, genius,” Paris retorts hotly, but Jamie just smiles.

“That’s smart. Hadn’t thought of that.” Jamie cocks her head at Paris, who is one step above her to gain both moral and physical high ground. “You’re Paris Geller, right?”

“How do you know that?” Jamie’s smile widens, shrugging her shoulders.

“I pay attention. You’re a Slytherin, yeah?” Paris nods, suddenly worried Jamie will give her detention for this infraction. “Well, you’re on your way to the dungeons, yes?” Paris nods again. “Don’t let me stand in your way.”

As Jamie steps aside, Paris’ eyes widen. “You’re not gonna…”

“Give you detention? Why would I? For studying? That seems a little counterproductive to Hogwarts’ message, no? This _is_ a school, after all,” Jamie says, voice kind. She motions for Paris to go past her. “After you.”

Paris slowly walks past her and closes her eyes, stopping. She wishes she weren’t so affected by a stupid girl. Paris spins on her heel and faces Jamie again. “What happens if I get caught again?”

Jamie, with her ever present smile, shrugs. “I suppose I’ll have to walk you to your common room, won’t I?”

Paris lets out an imperceptible breath. _Flirting._ Jamie is _flirting_ with her. Of all the things to happen to Paris Geller so far in her life, this has to be craziest. “I suppose--" Paris croaks out. She clears her throat and lifts her head high. No girl will resort Paris Geller to mush. Not even an incredibly pretty, brave, older girl who smells really good and looks amazing in her robes. Paris really needs to get a grip. "I suppose so."

Jamie crooks her arm out and Paris looks at it for a long moment before slipping her arm through Jamie's. She does her best not to blush. She’s not sure how much she succeeds. They’re silent on their walk to the Slytherin Dungeon and encounter no one in their travels. When they reach the stone wall that Paris knows to be where the path to the common room lies, she untangles herself from Jamie.

“Well, goodnight, then. Thank you for not writing me up,” Paris says quietly, not making eye contact. After 15 years, she still finds it hard to say thank you.

“You’re welcome,” Jamie says, turning her back on Paris, who stares at the wall, waiting for Jamie to exit the corridor so Paris can say the password that will reveal the passage to the common room. She's sure that Jamie knows the passwords to all of the portraits and passages in the castle, but Paris would rather be safe than sorry.

“Oh, Paris?” Jamie calls. Paris turns around. “I knew we wouldn’t run into anyone,” Jamie says. She winks at Paris before disappearing around the bend. Paris leans against the wall and closes her eyes.

“Oh, I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

\--

Lane’s been practicing on the muggle drum pads that Dave gave her for years, and she feels ready to try real drums. She wants to hit a cymbal. She wants to feel the crash, the echo. She wants to be a drummer, wants people to call her a drummer, wants people to _know_ she’s a drummer.

She tells Dave, of course, because she tells Dave everything, almost as much as she tells Rory. They each know things the other doesn’t at this point, though, so Lane considers them her two best friends. Who she may or may not be madly in love with and are both equally not interested in her. Lane has accepted it and moved past it. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s–it’s fine! It’s _fine._

It’s not fine. Lane’s losing her mind with the proximity of it all, especially with Dave.

The problem, Lane thinks, with being in love with your best friend is that just being around them makes you nervous. And you want to tell them things! Of course you do. You want to tell them everything. But you’re also afraid everything _else_ will come out.

Lane has accepted she'll never be with Rory. Rory's straight. And, even more than that, she's hot for Jess. _Really_ hot for him. She talks about him to Lane constantly, and they're all close friends. So, when Lane realized she had feelings for her in year two, she immediately stored those feelings in a box in her head and locked the lid. But Dave? Well, damn, there's a real shot there. Maybe. Maybe not. No, definitely not. Right?

So, Lane’s being weird. She knows she is. But, she figures, she’s a 15 year old girl. It’s natural for 15 year old girls to be a bit weird.

They’re all in their fourth year and Rory is nuts about Jess. She’s been nuts about him since she first saw him in Luke’s back when they were in their second year, but now it’s bad. Rory can’t be away from him; which would hurt Lane more if Lane could be away from Dave, but alas, she can’t be.

Lane’s incredibly worried he’s going to figure it out; Lane is not a subtle girl. But he seems to not be catching on yet. It’s not that he’s dense, he’s just… anxious, Lane will say. He’s always worried he’s doing the wrong thing. He’s more worried about himself than he is preoccupied about Lane’s feelings.

Or, so she thinks until near the end of winter term of year four.

The Yule Ball is fast approaching. The ball now happens every year in celebration of Cedric Diggory’s life, instead of paired the now-defunct Triwizard Tournament. Headmaster McGonagall instated that practice and Cedric’s family thought it was a beautiful tribute, seeing as the boy was fun and lively himself.

The Christmas trees just went up today in the Great Hall, so the pressure is on. Now that they’re all in their fourth year and can actually attend the dance, Rory is stressing about asking Jess because she _knows_ he won’t ask her, and Lane is worried another girl is going to ask out Dave. See, the thing about Jess is he wouldn’t want to go to any kind of dance anyway. But Dave is a wildcard. He’s a romantic, and if there’s a girl he’s got his eye on, he’d go for it. Nervously, but he'd go for it all the same.

Lane is practicing on her pads in her room one day, about a month away from the ball, and when there’s a knock on her door. She transforms her pads into candles, a spell Dave helped her perfect when he gifted them to her in year two, and opens the door.

She sees Dave in his nicer robes, looking anxious and wringing his hands. But when he sees her, he smiles.

“Can I come in?” Lane lets him into her empty chambers and they sit on her bed.

“What’s up, Dave?” Lane asks, suddenly nervous herself.

“Lane, do you think…” He takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out, eye contact breaking. Lane’s anxiety immediately spikes. “Do you think if there’s someone I wanted to ask to the Yule Ball, I should do it?” And Lane’s heart plummets. It sinks into her stomach and shatters at the bottom. He’s asking her if he should ask out another girl. And why shouldn’t he? Lane Kim is Dave Rygalski’s best friend, everyone knows that, and everyone knows she’ll never be anything more.

She schools her devastated face that she hopes to god he didn’t see and smiles. She knows it’s forced but she powers through it. “Yeah, Dave! Of course you should!” And he looks… sad. Well, that’s certainly not what she intended. “If you want,” she adds, softly.

“You don’t think there’s... any reason why I shouldn’t?” Dave looks nervous again, and they make eye contact, and Lane doesn’t get him. There are some moments where Lane thinks, _Maybe. Maybe Dave does like me._ But he always says she’s the best friend he’s ever had and that he never wants to do anything to ruin their friendship and, honestly? Lane is tired. She tired of fighting the feelings inside her and she’s tired of fighting for a boy who may or may not want her. So, she’s going to leave it up to him.

“Dave, if you want to ask someone, _anyone,_  out, you should. You need to,” she says. “For the benefit of you both. Anyone would be lucky to have you.” She’s close to getting up and walking out of her own chambers just to get away from it all. She’s never wanted to be this far away from one of her best friends before.

“But what if… what if she says no?” The question is said in a whisper, and Lane’s heart breaks for him. In the end, he's her best friend, and he’s hurting. So, she puts on her big girl shoes and vows to deal with this situation, no matter how much it absolutely breaks her heart.

Lane takes Dave’s hand in hers and he looks up at her, eyes watering, lip quivering. “Who would say no to you, Davey?” It’s full of kindness and love and all the affection she has for him packed in one sentence. She hopes he gets the message.

He seems to, because, with his other hand, he cups her cheek and kisses her for all she’s worth.

Lane can barely react. Dave is kissing her. Her best friend and love of her life, Dave Rygalski, is kissing her in her chambers. He pulls back suddenly, fear in his eyes, and, no, that certainly won’t do.

She pitches forward, still clutching one of Dave’s hands, and captures his lips in hers, screwing her eyes shut and putting all she’s got into it. No one can say that Lane Kim does anything halfway, and she’s sure as Merlin going to apply that to kissing now that she has the chance to.

Dave lets out an _oomph_ at the sudden contact and then melts into Lane’s embrace, whole body relaxing as if it was strung tight like a guitar string that was now broken in two. He touches her cheek reverently and she is about to try slipping her tongue in her mouth when she realizes something, pulling back.

“Wait, so,” she says, panting a bit. Dave’s hand is hovering over her face and she sees that it is now coated in glitter just from touching her skin. “Just to clarify, you want to go to the Yule Ball with me, right?”

Dave smiles, warm and happy and comfortable, and Lane so rarely sees that smile on Dave that it makes her grin helplessly back. “There is no one else. There was never anyone else.” And they rock back together, kissing fiercely.

Touching the thin skin of Dave’s neck and feeling his pulse thrumming like Keith Moon, Lane feels as if she never needs to hit a cymbal in her life if she can just do this for the rest of it.

\--

Everyone knows Jess is dating Rory.

This fact is common knowledge around the school. They’re not too into public displays of affection, not needing the world to see what they are already sure of, but the whole school knows. Her mom is very aware of the situation, keeping a close eye on them during all meals and during Defense Against the Dark Arts, a class Jess has missed a total of zero classes of since Lorelai became of the professor. He’s sure even her grandfather is going to call them in at some point to talk about it. Just to _check in_.

Everyone knows, apparently, but Logan Huntzberger.

“Hey, Gilmore,” Logan says from behind them during dinner one day. “The Yule Ball is coming up.”

“Sure is,” Rory comments without turning around.

“You got a date?” Rory and Jess haven’t exactly talked about the ball yet. Jess isn’t big on dances; it’s just a sweaty room with people he doesn’t like drinking spiked punch listening to a bad Wizard rock band. However, he certainly didn’t want her to go with anyone but him.

“Yep,” she responds shortly. Logan scoffs and Rory and Jess turn to see his sneer.

“Who are you even taking? Lane’s going with Rygalski, of course.” Logan had stopped mocking Dave for his blood status years ago when Rory asked him to, but he still didn’t try to hide his completely unfounded distaste for the boy. Rory fights not to roll her eyes, but Jess doesn’t.

“Yes, she is.” Jess can tell Rory is trying to give him as clipped answers as possible, hoping he’ll get the message and bugger off. But he hasn’t gotten the message yet and it’s been four years, so Jess is pretty certain it’s not going to happen now.

“You’re obviously not going with her, so, who’s the lucky fellow? I’d love to meet him,” Logan jeers. Jess sighs and he stands up to face Logan.

“Seems to me like you already have,” Jess says. Logan laughs.

“Oh, you’re going with this half-blood bastard? I’m not worried.” Jess laughs back, but it’s humorless, and he takes a step closer to Logan.

“Yeah? Maybe you should be.”

“Okay, okay, guys, settle down,” Rory says from behind them, voice strained.

“We’re very settled, Gilmore! Nothing to see here,” Logan responds brightly, not taking his eyes off Jess. “Just two blokes fighting for what they want. You know she belongs with me, Jess. A Pureblood with the likes of you? I give it a month,” he says, quieter this time, his smile all teeth, and Jess is honestly shocked he manages not to punch Logan right there in the Great Hall in front of everyone.

“Walk away before they have to drag you away, Huntzberger,” Jess says, voice low and dangerous. He’s not physically fighting this scally with a Pureblood supremacist for a father for Rory’s sake, but it’s taking everything he has not to knock that stupid, entitled smile right off his face. Logan puts up his hands, smile still locked in place.

“I’m walking. Just know that I’m not going anywhere,” Logan responds, and Jess scoffs.

“She hasn’t wanted you for four years, Huntzberger. Why would she start now?” Jess asks, a manic smile of his own smeared across his face. As he turns to sit back down next to Rory, he shoulders Logan in the chest. “Back off.”

“For now,” Logan warns, before walking away. Jess turns to Rory and smiles wanly.

“So, uh. Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?”

\--

Lane Kim is pretty much the perfect friend.

She’s never seen Rory as anything other than who she is: not a pureblood, not a blood traitor’s daughter, just Rory Gilmore. Lane’s never even directly mentioned Rory’s blood status unless Rory herself brings it up. She’s so kind and so generous as a best friend, and Rory feels so lucky.

Which is why she feels so horrible for how MIA she’s been. Jess is taking up a lot of her time. It’s weird sometimes, being someone’s girlfriend.

But Lane’s birthday is coming up, so with the help of Jess, Paris and Dave, she’s going to make it the best one she’s ever had. It’s Lane’s 16th birthday and Dave and Rory have an idea to make Lane’s day the most special one she’ll ever have.

She’s going to play in a muggle band.

Jess is in contact with everyone in Hogsmede due to working at Luke’s and living there when they’re not at school. They’re going to sneak Lane out of the castle, along with Paris, and she’s going to perform live on the drums for the first time in her life. For a _crowd_. It’s going to be incredible.

Rory can’t wait.

Dave’s been playing the guitar since before he even went to Hogwarts, and they let him bring an acoustic one with him when he came, as long as the Minister of Magic, Taylor Doose, didn’t hear about it. Headmaster Gilmore could be cool sometimes. _Sometimes._ Rory loves her grandfather, but he could be a royal pain occasionally.

Dave is going to play with Lane, too. Two muggle musicians, Zack and Brian, have been looking for drummer and a backup guitarist to start a band. So, Dave responded to their ad that was set up outside of a bar that Jess found in the town outside Hogsmede.

It’s the day of Lane’s birthday, and they’ve got the plan all set with Luke and coordinated with the headmaster. They’re going to stay with Luke for the night and only because it’s a Saturday, the headmaster okayed it. The five of them are going to Hogsmede for 'a night on the town', as Lane knows it to be. She’s excited enough to leave campus that she hasn’t asked where they’ll be stopping and Rory and Dave are relieved at that; they don't like lying to their best friend.

To get them out of Hogsmede and into the town where they’ll be playing though, that will be tricky. Jess says he can get them out of Hogsmede, has snuck out before, and Dave and Rory believe him. Still, while Dave is sneaking Lane’s drumsticks into his robes and getting her to the main entrance, Rory worries.

They’ve got to meet Brian and Zack two hours before the show so they can practice the set, considering they’ve never played together before. Dave said he and Lane were out of town before the show, but could make it before set-up, and luckily, the two boys agreed to the proposal. They seem like very relaxed people from what Dave tells Rory.

When they get into Hogsmede and start walking around, Lane is excited and the rest of them are varying states of anxious. After about 15 minutes of walking around, Jess squeezes Rory’s hand three times: the signal.

“Hey, guys, I’ve gotta head to Luke’s for a bit, stop in a make sure he knows we’re here,” Jess says, smooth as silk.

“Oh!” Dave shouts. “I’ll come with you. I’ve gotta… use the bathroom!” _So, Dave isn’t as good at lying_ , Rory thinks. _We all have our strong suits._ She sees Paris roll her eyes in a whole heave of her body, and Rory elbows her discreetly in her side. Thankfully, Lane is distracted by quickly kissing Dave goodbye. Together, the boys walk into Luke’s where Dave’s guitar is stashed and Lane, Paris and Rory keep walking, Rory and Lane arm in arm. Rory is subtly leading them towards Hogsmede’s exit into the town of Stars Hollow.

When they make it to the edge of town, Lane looks at Rory. “Where are we going? Aren’t we gonna wait for the boys?”

"They're coming," Rory promises. After a bit, Jess and Dave come out from a side street. “There you are!” Dave calls, guitar case in hand. “You ready to go?”

“Go… where?” Lane asks cautiously, eyeing the guitar case. Everyone smiles at Lane, even Paris.

“To get your birthday present,” Rory says, winding her arm around Lane’s shoulder. “Come on.” And together, they walk out of town just as easily as they walked into it.

Lane is incredible on stage. She vibrates with intensity and joy. Even though Zack, Brian and almost everyone in the crowd have no idea she’s never hit a real drum set before, they’d never know it with how she’s keeping up with all these muggle songs Lane has only ever heard through tinny headphones before. In a word, Lane shines.

Rory can tell Dave is incredibly proud to be up there with her, considering the smile doesn’t leave his face once during the whole set.

 _She was looking for something new, well  
_ _I said it once before, but it bears repeating, now_

Their set comes to a thundering close with The White Stripes, and Rory screams as the stage goes black. She can see Lane jump out of her drum set as Dave quickly his guitar in its stand before catching her around the waist.

“We did it!” Rory hears Lane scream. “I did it!” Dave pets at her back as the lights of the bar come back on. He says something into her ear and she keeps jumping in his arms. He spins her in a tight circle, both of them laughing delightedly, before jumping off stage to meet Jess and Rory at the front.

“Rory!” Lane yells, leaping into Rory’s arms. “Did you set this up?”

“Eh, I had help,” she says, smirking at Dave over Lane’s shoulder. He smiles at her, wide, wild and unabashedly happy, and Rory is so glad to see her best friends like this; so proud to be doing what they love.

“Jess!” Lane yells into Rory’s ear and the three of them laugh as she jumps onto Jess next. “I know you helped, even though you’ll never admit it, and I’m so grateful!” Jess laughs in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Maybe,” he comments, mysterious facade a complete farce.

“Paris!” Lane calls out, still attached to Jess, but turning to her. “Did you help?”

“I came,” Paris says, slightly uncomfortable with all the noise around her, but genuinely happy for her friend. Lane smiles.

“Thank you so much for coming, Paris. This wouldn’t be right without you here,” Lane says, disentangling herself from Jess and putting her hands on Paris’ shoulders, knowing Paris isn’t big on hugs.

“Really?” Paris asks hopefully, smile cracking through.

“Really!” Lane replies, and then looks at Dave.

“And you,” she says, stalking over to him and grabbing his neck, pulling him down for a searing kiss. Dave flails a bit before putting a an arm around her waist and tangling a hand in her hair. Rory, Jess and Paris all holler and hoot, catcalling in the din of the bar. Lane and Dave laugh, pulling apart, and Lane goes up on her toes to hug him tight.

“Thank you,” Rory hears her say. Lane turns in his embrace, back pressed against Dave’s chest, leaning back against him. “Thank you all. I’m a real drummer!”

Dave smiles down at her and Jess mumbles loudly enough to be heard over the activity, “You always were.”

\--

In his fifth year, Dave Rygalski applies to be a Prefect and gets the position easily. He wears his badge with as much pride as he holds Lane’s hand with in the halls on the way to class. He takes being a Prefect seriously, but definitely not as seriously as Paris Geller. He and Paris have a bet going to see how many detentions they can rack up by the end of term. Dave currently has four. Paris has 13. She says he’s slacking. Dave says there's such a thing as _too_ competitive.

Dave is on his off period, scanning the halls, whistling a tune by The Kinks while mostly everyone else is in class when he hears it: a distinct thump from behind the painting of Edgar Stroulger. The man in the painting suddenly looks as innocent as possible. Well, as innocent as a man can look with a giant sneakoscope attached to his face. Edgar refuses to make eye contact with Dave as he approaches and Dave slowly takes his wand out and points it at the painting.

“Edgar,” he starts. “What was that noise?”

“Oh, nothing! Definitely not anyone behind me! I’m just clumsy! Silly Edgar!” Dave levels him a look.

“Yeah? No one hiding in the secret passageway behind your painting?” Edgar flaps his hand, a paper flying out of the stack he’s holding.

“ _Pshaw._ You’re so paranoid! Absolutely no one is--”

“Will you stop moving around?”

“I’m trying! It’s cramped in here!”

“Yeah, that’s because it’s a secret passageway, darlin’. Did you expect it to be roomy?”

“Shh!”

Dave gives a flat look to Edgar Strougler. “Definitely no one in the secret passageway.”

Edgar looks flustered and vaguely annoyed as he straightens his purple suit jacket. “Well, perhaps there might’ve been _someone_.”

“Oh, yeah?” And, this was Dave’s time to shine as a Prefect. He had to remember every password to every painting in Hogwarts Castle. He thought for a moment and then remembered his mnemonic device: Surreptitious Strougler.

“Surreptitious!” Dave calls out proudly at the painting. Edgar sighs from within his painted confines.

“Well, alright, then. If you must.” The painting creaks as it opens up, almost like a door, and what Dave finds in the passageway makes him laugh louder than he has since the start of term: Jess and Rory, looking slightly debauched, frowning with their arms crossed.

Rory at least has the decency to look a bit ashamed that they were caught. Jess just looks smug. Dave rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“If you two are gonna get it on in a secret passageway, at least be quiet. Come on, Lane and I are showing you up,” Dave says, smirking. He also has a bet going with Jess and Rory to see how many places they can sneak into during this year without getting caught. Dave is currently in twice as many bets than he’s ever been in his life. “We’ve only been caught once and that time it was only trying to sneak out of the castle for band practice; this is your fourth time getting caught making out during class. What are you guys, bonobos?”

They both snort. Jess shrugs and Rory blushes a deep scarlet. If it were anyone else, he would’ve given them detention and been on his way. But if there’s anything Dave Rygalski loves more than ribbing with his friends, he’d be hard pressed to find it. He also really loves winning, but he’d never admit that to Jess and Rory.

“At least this is better than the time that Professor Longbottom caught us. Thought the poor guy was going to faint,” Jess remarks. Rory continues to shrink further into Jess’ side and Dave clicks his tongue, giving her a soft look.

“Gilmore, it’s fine. I’m not gonna write you up. But this does count against you in our bet.” Dave smiles at her. “Deal?”

Rory gives him a small smile and Dave watches as she returns back to her pencil-straight posture. “Deal.”

Dave looks back at Jess. “Quieter, yeah? Paris is on duty as well and if she finds you, you two will literally never hear the end of it.”

“Oh, Merlin,” Jess groans. “Okay, Rory, no falling this time.”

“What? You’re the one that kneed me in the stomach trying to lay down!”

Dave snickers as he walks away, calling out the password behind his back. The painting closes on their argument and Dave smiles to himself, shaking his head and casting a quiet _Silencio_ on the painting.

\--

Paris Geller is studying during lunch at the beginning of her sixth year when she hears Rory’s name at her table.

“I bet I can bag Gilmore by the Yule Ball,” Logan Huntzberger snickers to Colin and Finn, his best friends and resident Slytherin morons.

“Yeah? Who says you’ll get her away from her possé long enough?” Finn says, Northern accent thick and barely recognizable. Paris rolls her eyes. They know she’s sitting right there and that Rory is her best friend. She stays quiet, however, hard as it may be, knowing she’ll get more information this way.

“It’s not her friends I’m worried about,” Logan comments, looking over and where Rory and Jess are reading next to each other at the Ravenclaw table, food completely ignored. Paris smiles almost imperceptibly at her friends before looking back down at her Charms notebook, pretending to study for the test she has next class.

“Oh, you’re scared of Jess Mariano?” Colin crows. “I bet.”

“I’m not scared.” Logan all but shrieks as he starts scrambling to get up. Paris looks up from her notebook fully. “I’ll show you.”

Logan starts walking over to the Ravenclaw table and Paris closes her book and puts it in her bag. _This isn’t going to be good_ , Paris thinks as Colin and Finn laugh to themselves.

“Gilmore!” Logan calls out, strained. Paris can see Rory heave a sigh, even from her place at the Slytherin table, and Rory closes her book. She turns around with the most fake smile Paris may have ever seen on Rory Gilmore’s face in her five years of friendship with her.

“Yes, Logan?”

“Would you like to accompany me to the Yule Ball this year?” Rory looks at him like he’s a horned toad.

“Logan,” she says slowly. “I’m not dating you. And the Yule Ball is months away.”

“Then, surely you’ll come to the Slytherin Common Room for some tea tonight,” Logan says. His back is turned to Paris but his posture is absolutely rigid. He can tell this is the moment; he’s about to be rejected by Rory, really rejected, and in front of everyone. This was the worst idea Paris has ever seen Logan have, but Paris doesn’t know what she should do. Should she butt in and save Logan? House pride and all that. It would certainly gain her popularity she so desperately needs in the Slytherin House.

But this is Rory. This is Paris’ best friend. Rory has stood by Paris since the day she met her. Rory is her family, as is Jess, Lane, Dave and Jamie. She realizes all at once that she would do anything for these people. Paris stays seated as Rory answers.

“No, thank you.” The answer is quiet, but sure and unwavering. The noise of the Great Hall begins to dim as people start to take notice of what is happening at the Ravenclaw table.

“But--”

“Huntzberger,” Jess says, closing his own book and turning to face Logan. “Rory said no thank you, and I think she's been far more polite than you deserve. Shouldn’t you be going now?”

“What do you have to say about it? This is a conversation between Rory and I, Mariano,” Logan spits out, venom in his voice, and Paris can tell this is about to get violent as Jess slowly starts to stand up. Paris, working completely off instinct, gets up and speeds over to the three of them.

“Logan,” she says, and he turns. Logan raises his eyebrow and Jess looks on with interest. Rory’s eyes widen from behind both of them.

“What are you doing here, Geller?” Logan asks.

“I just wanted to see if you if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me.” Humiliation. Utter humiliation. She has no interest in going to the Yule Ball with Logan Huntzberger. And, more than that, she was sure her secret relationship with Head Girl, Jamie Barash, who was probably watching from the Gryffindor table, was going to suffer from this. Paris is a damn lesbian, for Merlin’s sake. She does not want to be doing this, and she realizes that’s what makes it that much more heroic.

 _Sometimes, the most heroic actions don’t get House Points_ , she thinks bitterly. _Jamie’s really rubbed off on me._

“What?” Logan says, the word coming out with a bubbling laugh. “You? You want to go to the Yule Ball with me? And you’re asking now?”

Paris smirks. _Gotcha._ “Well, yeah. Don’t you think in the middle of lunch while somebody is doing something else is the _perfect_ time to interrupt them and ask them to go to a ball that is two months away? _Especially_ when you aren’t dating them? Then it really packs a punch.”

Paris lightly punches Logan twice in the arm on the last sentence as the whole room erupts in laughter. Logan’s face immediately turns red and Jess crosses his arms, raising his eyebrows to show that he is impressed.

“You foul, little--” he starts, but Jess cuts him off.

“You better think long and hard about what you say next, Logan,” he says. Logan looks at him, looks back at Paris, and then looks at Rory. Paris can see the genuine hurt in his eyes, and for a moment, she feels a flash of sympathy. It passes just as quickly as it came, however, and is replaced with smug satisfaction.

He stomps back to his seat and Paris can hear Colin and Finn laughing all the way from the Ravenclaw table. Paris looks at Rory who has the most grateful look in her eyes she’s ever seen. Paris feels pride for herself and this family she's assembled in this castle.

“Well, it looks like Logan won’t be interrupting anymore of your meals,” she says, smiling a bit at Rory, and making her way back to the Slytherin table, even though she knows she is currently not welcome there. Paris spares a glance at where she knows Jamie sits and she’s looking at Paris with pride and mirth. Jamie nods slowly at her, smiling, and Paris smiles back, ducking her head.

So, she loses a bit of status amongst her House. She gained a lot of status amongst her friends, and that matters more than anything else to Paris right now.

She makes a face at herself as she realizes how much her priorities have changed in the last six years. When the Sorting Hat was placed on her head her first day here, it barely had to think before placing her in Slytherin, and Paris was proud of that title. She still is. She had wanted to be a Slytherin at Hogwarts since she found out what the Houses represented. But maybe she’s gained a few traits from her friends in the other Houses over the years at Hogwarts.

And, undeniably, she thinks as she approaches her seat, daggers being shot at her from anyone looking at her at the table, one of them is loyalty.

\--

It’s her sixth year when everything Lane Kim has built at Hogwarts comes crashing down.

Lane is practicing on her drums pads one spring day, and is careless. It only took once. One time for Lane to slip up and forget to transform her pads into candles. She’s late for class and it slips her mind. She doesn’t even realize what has happened until Headmaster Gilmore comes up to her in the Great Hall.

“Lane Kim?” Lane turns from where she’s laughing with Dave at the Hufflepuff table. She looks up and sees the Headmaster, the Hufflepuff Head Girl and Lorelai, who looks stricken. “Come with us.”

Lane spares a glance at Dave who smiles at her encouragingly, nodding, before she gets up. The whole room goes quiet as the four of them walk out. Lane doesn’t ask what this is about. She doesn’t say a word as they walk up to her chambers. Lorelai sighs, reaches down and squeezes her hand quickly before the Headmaster opens the door.

What Lane sees is devastating.

Everything. All of it. Every piece of contraband she’s collected over the past six years, is scattered all over the room. The floorboards are up and her CDs are everywhere, her muggle clothes from her suitcase, the nice headphones that Dave gifted to her last year for Christmas, her precious drum pads. Everything is strewn about the room and on her bed. Lane’s breath catches in her throat. She can’t bring herself to cry, to scream, to even move. All of it, her whole life, is in pieces around her.

“Ms. Kim,” Headmaster Gilmore starts, voice grave. “I’m sure you know what a terrible infraction all of this is.”

“How…” Lane manages to get out of her dry throat.

“I found the drum pads,” the Head Girl says. “On a random room check. I had to say something. I’m sorry, Lane.” Lucy has the decency to actually look regretful.

“Don’t be sorry, Ms. Purcell. This was exactly what you should’ve done. Ms. Kim knows what she’s been doing was a ticking time bomb,” the Headmaster says. Tears silently stream down her face and she violently wipes at them.

“What happens now?” Lane whispers.

“Expulsion is on the table,” the Headmaster says.

“But,” Lorelai starts, voice cutting through like a church bell, comforting and lovely in this time of horror, as it always was and always will be. “It’s not a definite. Really, Lane, it’s up to your mother.”

Lane lets out a choking sob for the first time since she entered the room, knees buckling.

“You and the Headmaster will have a meeting,” Lorelai continues, voice thin and reedy with emotion. “And that will decide your fate at Hogwarts.”

“Can I at least go finish dinner?”

“Yes. We’ll collect your things and put them in storage for now. Enjoy this meal, Lane,” the Headmaster warns. “It very well might be your last here at Hogwarts.”

\--

When Lane passes by Rory and numbly, quietly tells her, “They found it. Everything. I might be expelled,” Rory immediately goes into action.

She pulled out her notebook and writes notes with disappearing ink to Dave, Paris, Jamie, Jess and Lane that all say the same thing: _Meet me in the Astronomy tower at 7:00._

They all get there promptly at 7:00 PM, even Jess, who is notoriously late to everything and anything he can be late to. Rory sighs as they all sit in a circle.

“We have to talk about Lane,” Rory says, gravely, and looks to her best friend to see if she wants to explain. Lane shakes her head, so Rory extrapolates on what has happened. Dave takes a deep intake of breath and doesn’t let it out, arm tightening around Lane’s shoulders. Lane clearly didn’t tell Dave what had happened before this meeting, and Rory sympathizes with him, that he has to find out in front of everyone. Paris hangs her head in sorrow and Jess’ eyes widen in horror, bigger than Rory’s ever seen them. Jamie nods, sitting up straight and taking the role of the protector, knowing her age and Head Girl status naturally gives her a bit of authority.

“What can we do?” Jamie asks.

“Rory, you have to talk to your grandfather,” Paris says. “Surely, there must be a way to get him to let Lane stay. Not tell her mom.” Lane chokes at the thought.

“God,” Dave says under his breath, muggle curses coming out when he’s anxious or around his best friends. “I can’t fucking believe this.”

Silence takes over the small tower room.

“I knew this was coming,” Lane says quietly. They all turn and listen to her, giving her the space she needs to speak. “I knew since the day I packed my muggle clothes in my suitcase before first year. This is what I deserve. I’ve been hiding. I need to face the truth.”

Dave and Rory both hurry to disagree. Dave gets there first. “This is not what you deserve, sweetheart. All you did was love music fiercely. That’s not a crime. I’m sure the Headmaster will see that. I know everything you had and you had nothing hiding in that room that was worth expulsion. You didn’t, Lane.”

Lane sighs. “You sure of that?”

Rory grabs her hand. “Certain, Laney. We’re not going to let you leave. They’re going to have to drag all of us down with you.”

Lane looks around at everyone from her place on Dave’s shoulder and then back down at her hand intertwined with Rory’s. “I couldn’t ask you all to do anything for me. This is my battle to fight alone.”

“Lane,” Jess starts softly. “We’ve all been in this since the beginning with you. Look at the concert. Look at all the things we’ve given you as gifts. I know I've smuggled contraband into the castle to give to you. We are all just as guilty.”

Jamie nods. “I put that charm on your chamber door so you’d know when someone was coming,” she says. “Even I have colluded and schemed with you all. I would gladly lose my status as Head Girl if it means you staying, Lane.”

“I’d tear apart the world,” Dave says quietly.

Lane lets a few silent tears fall down her cheeks, not feeling the need to hide them here, in this safe place. “Thank you all. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I can promise you, once my mom finds out, it won’t be good.”

Rory sighs. That, she knows, the whole room agrees with.

They all lay down in a pile, heads on each other’s stomachs and chests, and look at the stars passing by overhead.

“The world seems so small here at Hogwarts,” Lane comments from her place listening to Dave’s beating heart. “I love the Astronomy Tower. It reminds me that the world is so much bigger than any of us realize.”

“Yeah. I understand completely,” Dave says. “When I was a kid and I found out about magic, I felt like this whole world had been opened up for me. No one in my family had ever practiced magic, so when I got that letter at age eleven, all the odd stuff that had been happening around me suddenly made sense. Like the world was all at once that much bigger.”

“When I was a kid, I thought I would grow up to be my dad,” Jess says quietly, and Rory reaches a hand up and cards her fingers through his hair, comfortingly scratching at his scalp. “My mom told me I would, said I was nothing but trouble because I was such a powerful wizard. She was a squib; she had nothing she could teach me, and I certainly didn’t want to find me father and learn anything from him. So, when Liz sent me to Luke’s, the world suddenly opened up. A wizard who was willing to work with me and my magic? Who wasn’t going to give up easily? It was a miracle, honestly. Luke and all of Hogsmede saved me, really. So, I think I get it as well.”

Rory and Dave both make comforting noises in the backs of their throats as Paris speaks up. “My world was so small. Microscopic. It was my private school and my home with Nanny. That’s all I knew. I didn’t have friends, all I had was magic and studying about it. So, when I got my Hogwarts letter, like you, Dave, it felt a bit like the world was opening up and asking me to let it swallow me whole.”

“Did you let it?” Jamie asks from her place on Paris’ stomach, playing with Paris’ fingers.

“Yeah,” she says, smiling around at everyone, and then holding eye contact with Lane. “I think I did.”

Lane feels unable to tell her story with how vulnerable and torn open she feels right now. She hopes, one day, she’ll have the opportunity to. She sends a wild hope into the stars that this isn’t her last night at Hogwarts and is comforted that everyone else in this room is wishing the same thing. “Yeah,” Lane whispers. “Me, too.”

\--

Somehow, someway, it manages to get worse for Lane.

That morning, at breakfast, Lucy Purcell tells Lane there is a letter for her. Lane feels her stomach drop out of her body when she hands it to her and she sees the name.

Her mother.

Lane knows that this is a screamer and she has to open the letter or it will explode in the middle of breakfast. That would possibly be worse than the screaming she’s about to endure.

“Dave,” she chokes out, voice nothing but a whisper. He nods, grabbing her hand. “Go get Rory, please.”

Dave gets up and returns with Rory a moment later. Rory puts her hands on Lane’s shoulders from behind, towering over her, and Lane closes her eyes and lets herself feel safe for a moment in this horror movie she’s living. She opens her eyes and opens the letter. It grows teeth and takes a breath, and Lane is already crying.

“HYUN-KYUNG!” The letter shrieks, and the whole room falls deathly silent. “HOW COULD YOU? HIDING MUSIC THIS WHOLE TIME? YOU KNOW IT IS AGAINST OUR CULTURE TO LISTEN TO THE DEVIL’S MUSIC, AND HERE YOU’VE BEEN FOR SIX YEARS, SNEAKING AROUND AND LYING TO EVERYONE! I HOPE THIS LETTER EMBARRASSES YOU LIKE YOU HAVE EMBARRASSED ME.” Both Rory’s and Dave’s hands tighten at those words and Lane pitches forward, sobbing in the middle of the Great Hall with every single person in the room watching her. “GETTING A CALL FROM YOUR HEADMASTER THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HIDING MUGGLE CONTRABAND. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU, LANE. I AM SENDING YOU TO SOUTH KOREA TO STAY WITH YOUR COUSINS IN BUSAN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY IF YOUR HEADMASTER AGREES EXPULSION IS NECESSARY. GOODBYE.” And with that, the screamer tears itself into pieces on her breakfast plate.

Lane begins shaking, whole body wracked with sobs. Dave pulls her into his chest, almost as if he can’t stand to let the whole school see her like this, can’t stand how private this moment should be. Rory hides the rest of Lane’s body with hers, stroking her hair. The room is still completely silent. No one can move, no one can speak. What they just witnessed was absolutely devastating, and even the cruelest people in the room, none of them can find the words to describe it.

“Lane,” Dave whispers into her hair. “Baby, the headmaster’s coming down the steps.” Lane comes up for air, still shaking like a leaf, and wipes her face on her robes.

“That was -- this is -- ”

“It’s okay, honey. We’ll figure it out, okay?” Dave says, catching a stray tear she missed.

“Lane, I’m gonna--” Rory starts, cutting herself off. She stands up straight, blocking Lane from Headmaster Gilmore’s view. “Grandpa, I’d like to talk to you.”

“Rory, not now,” he says, trying to see around her, but she seems to make herself bigger than her slight frame has ever been.

“Yes, right now, grandpa. Please.”

“Well,” he wavers. Lane knows Headmaster Gilmore is unable to deny his granddaughter anything. “Alright. But Ms. Kim comes as well.”

“Alright,” Rory concedes, and Dave tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear that had fallen out of her braids during the commotion. He kisses the inside of her wrist.

“Knock ‘em dead, Laney,” Dave whispers, so quietly that only Lane can hear him, knocking their knees together lightly. She manages a weak, watery but true smile back at him.

“Ms. Kim,” the Headmaster says, and Lane lets out an unsteady breath.

“Hello, Headmaster,” she responds, and gets up. “Shall we?”

\--

“Grandpa,” Rory says once they’re seated in her grandfather’s office. “Lane doesn’t deserve to be expelled and I’d like to tell you why.”

Richard Gilmore chuckles humorlessly. “Alright, Rory. Why doesn’t Lane Kim, who has been hiding massive amounts of muggle contraband, deserve to be expelled?”

“Because I don’t think it should be a rule at all,” Rory says, and that shuts everybody up. “If I may, the rule that muggle items are contraband is outdated and classist. There are many muggle students at this school. In fact, 47% of students this year are muggles, did you know that, grandpa?”

“I,” he says, a bit stunned. “I did not.”

“They are!” Rory says, genuinely excited to make her case. “More and more muggles are being discovered as wizards as time goes on. And why are we expecting them to completely cut themselves off from the world they know? Because it’s better for education? Are t-shirts worn under robes distracting people from their studies?”

“The drum pads are,” Headmaster Gilmore says staunchly.

“We can have music class, grandpa. That way, students who want to learn instruments can have the opportunity to without it having to distract from their studies.” The Headmaster nods.

“We do need more arts in this school,” he muses. _Oh, my god,_ Rory thinks, squeezing Lane’s hand that she’s been holding the entire time under the desk. Lane hasn’t moved an inch since she sat down. _It’s working._

“I think that’d be a lovely idea. Luna Lovegood donated money for an art wing, did she not? My mom told me that.” Her grandfather nods. “Why not art and music?”

“Yes, Rory, this is all well and good, but what does this have to do with Lane?”

“Everything, grandpa,” Rory says, a bit breathless. “With music classes, with a real orchestra, Lane wouldn’t need to hide her music. She could play without fear or anxiety, she could play and be listened to. There are so many kids just like Lane, grandpa, and there have been for many years. Students have been kicked out for this reason before, because of an archaic stipulant that excludes a whole population of people living here from the world they know. Don’t let this outdated rule define your stay as Headmaster, grandpa. Be the change our world needs.”

The silence that falls over the room stretches on as Richard thinks. After a few minutes, he nods.

“Very well. An arts wing will be constructed in Luna Lovegood’s name over the summer and Ms. Kim will not be expelled,” Rory and Lane both let out a breath they didn’t realize they’d been holding at once. “But I think we all know you skirted a very, very thin line here, Ms. Kim.”

“I understand, Headmaster. You will know about all of my items from now on.” He nods.

“I better,” he says, smiling a bit. Lane smiles back.

\--

“Paris,” Dave says, walking over to her from across the room. “You were literally made to be Head Girl. Stop worrying, you’re going to get the position.”

Paris Geller is pacing back and forth in the foyer before the Gargoyle at the foot of the Headmaster’s Office. Headmaster Gilmore is a tough, fair man, and Paris is worried her _collusion_ with Rory Gilmore, his granddaughter, will not paint her in a good light. Paris has been dreaming of being Head Girl since she heard of the position at age nine, and now, on the day of reckoning, her first day as a seventh year, she is sweating along with the 24 other prefects in the room.

“Dave, what do you know? You’re not gonna be Head Boy,” Paris snaps back, regretting the words a bit once they are out of her mouth. Dave Rygalski visibly wilts, but then pulls himself back up and walks over to Paris. He’s been friends with her for six years now, he’s seen Paris at her worst and at her best. And, when she’s stressed, she’s definitely at her worst.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to be. I’m fine with the responsibility of a Prefect and don’t need to go further up the ladder.” Paris snorts.

“Well, I do, if I ever want to be Minister of Magic.” Dave nods. As part of the inner group that Paris drifted towards in her second year, Dave has heard all about Paris’ plans to be Minister of Magic and get that old hag Doose out of the building by the time she’s 25.

“I know, Paris.” Dave puts his hand on her shoulder and, instead of shaking it off like she might in any other situation, she welcomes the contact from her friend. _Wow, I really am losing it,_ she thinks. “Is all the worrying because you want to impress--”

“Jamie’s not here anymore,” Paris bites back, cutting off his words. “And, regardless, I don’t even know if we’re going to continue our relationship now that she’s out of Hogwarts. She’s off to bigger and better things. She wants to be an Auror.”

Dave nods, squeezing her shoulder a bit in comfort. “I know that, too. But, Paris, Jamie is crazy about you. I’m sure she wants to stay with you. It'll be even easier to hide what you have now that she's graduated. And don’t worry about Head Girl. You’re a shoe-in.”

They share a smile, private and small. The gargoyle starts to shift, scraping against the floor, and as the spiral staircase up to Headmaster Gilmore’s office begins to appear, Dave hooks his arm around Paris’ shoulder and squeezes her into his side quickly before letting go quickly.

“A shoe-in,” Paris repeats to herself quietly.

Of course, when Headmaster Gilmore announces the Head Boys and Girls, Paris’ name is called out. Dave shoots an encouraging smile at her that she definitely does _not_ return. When she gets back to her chambers, biting back a smile so as not to let new students think that she is anything other than unfriendly, she sees an owl by the window who is tapping on the glass with its head. As she gets closer, she sees that it’s Jamie’s owl, Oberon. She lets him in and he nuzzles at her hand, dropping a letter onto the table. He affectionately nips at her hand before flying off. Paris rips it open and greedily soaks up every looping letter of Jamie’s words.

_Paris -_

_Congratulations on Head Girl. No, Headmaster Gilmore, nor anyone else, told me ahead of time. Sometimes, people simply believe in you. Get used to it, darling._

_And, yes, I’m still your girlfriend. Stop worrying. I’ll see you at the Yule Ball in the winter. Until then, write me. I’ll be waiting._

_Fondly,  
_ _Jamie_

Paris smiles to herself before looking up and around sharply to see if anyone was watching her. The only girl in the room is unpacking and completely unbothered by Paris’ interactions with Oberon and her reading of the letter.

Paris opens her bag up that is on her bed and unzips the secret pouch where she keeps the book Rory gave to her in second year that cemented their friendship in Paris’ eyes and all the notes Jamie has written her since they met. She folds the note she just received back up and tucks it in that pouch before zipping it back up.

Paris pulls out her wand and silently does an Invisibility Charm on the pouch before sitting on her bed and smiling at her hands.

\--

The day after graduation, before they go their separate ways, they all have one more meal at Luke’s. Even Jamie joins them, having apparated in for the ceremony and they’re all happy to hear about her success in Auror training. Rory’s mom is talking to Luke at the counter, slouching over it in her muggle clothes, drinking a giant cup of coffee. Her and Rory share a private smile before they go back to their friends.

“God, you know what would be great right now?” Dave says as they all peruse the menus casually. “McDonald’s.”

They all laugh except Paris. “Ugh,” she says. “We have any magical and muggle food at our disposal here and you want _McDonald’s._ ”

“Yeah, Dave, that stuff is gross,” Jess comments.

“No, no!” Rory clamors in Dave’s defense, knocking Jess’ arm loose from the back of her chair as she grabs at him. “McDonald’s is food of the gods, Dave’s right.”

“See, Rory understand me. I always knew you were my favorite, Gilmore,” Dave says, and Rory beams at him.

“But we’re at the diner,” Lane says from under Dave’s arm, smiling at her best friends’ interaction.

“Luke,” Jess calls out, and Luke walks over to them.

“You decided yet?” Luke asks.

“Yeah. We want McDonald’s.” Luke laughs and then it fades when he realizes they’re not kidding.

“You’re serious.”

“As the heart attacks we will all receive from eating those fries,” Dave says, gaining a laugh out of Jamie, Lane and Rory.

“And how do you expect me to _get_ to McDonald’s?” Luke asks, exasperated with this conversation already.

“You can Apparate,” Jess comments. “We can’t until the first day of summer.”

“Yeah,” Lane says. “Come on, after this fight we had with the Headmaster about muggle contraband, we deserve a little victory snack.”

“That was last year,” Luke points out and Paris shrugs, deciding she’ll attract more bees with honey by joining in with her friends.

“But it was a _tough_ fight, Luke,” Paris says, really laying it on thick, and Rory snorts quietly from next to her. “Really tough.”

“Alright, alright!” Luke yells, finally acquiescing, and everyone cheers. “But only because it’s slow right now.” He gets out his pad and pen from his back pocket. “Now, what do you want from McDonald’s, home of the heart attack?”

Rory, Lane, Paris and Dave all fight to be heard over each other as they call out their orders, while Jamie and Jess both lean back and make eye contact. Jess smiles and nods at her.

They made it. They finally made it, happy, whole and together. A family.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Find me on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/hepaliens) or [Tumblr](http://lanekim.tumblr.com).
> 
> Kudos and comments are always lovely and very much appreciated!


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